It Takes Just One
by Marine Brother Shran
Summary: Naruto has suffered his entire life. What if, one, just one person, were to do something about it? How would his life change? Full Sum inside. Full time story, NaruHina
1. An Act of Kindness

**It Takes Just One**

**Chapter I An Act of Kindness**

**Greetings and salutations, people of the Naruto fan community. I am Marine Brother Shran, and this is my first Naruto story. No, it's not my first story in general, just in this particular category. Anyways, a semi-AU story, in which there are some changes to the current storyline.**

**At the moment, I'm really wondering if I should make this a one-shot, or an actual story. Please give me your opinions.**

**And now without further ado, onward with: It Takes Just One.**

Naturally it just takes one. It just takes one mistake to screw something up, be it assembling something, or executing a mission. It just takes one really good idea, to lead to a series of good ideas. It just takes one glance at the features of a person's face or actions, to determine whether one likes or dislikes the person. It just takes one wrong move to get oneself killed. It just takes one act of violation, to destroy a tower of trust. It just takes one act of something, to lead to a series of various reactions and results.

In this case, it just took one, just one act of kindness, to brighten up the world of a certain boy. This act brought out a side in which many of the people had believed never existed. In all honesty, if it were not for the act of kindness, it may have led to the eventual mental destruction of this boy. For he was hated by all, scorned for a crime he did not commit, nor knew of. His teachers hated him for what he represented, and the children copied what the adults did, shunning him out of their world, treating him as a lower class being that was undeserving of their attention. His name was Uzumaki Naruto.

Yet no one acknowledged him as Naruto. It was always something hateful, and hurtful. Their words, full of malice, never really concerned for the well being for the boy. To them, he wasn't a boy. He was beneath a boy. They didn't care if his life was in shambles. If they could do anything, they'd made sure that he was dead. But law had prevented him. He had a guardian angel, and he didn't even know it. It was the will of Sandaime Hokage who had ensured that the boy lived. However he was limited, and couldn't protect the boy from the harshness of the village to his dismay.

For years Naruto lived in pain, never knowing love, never know friendship, never knowing kindness. Until one day, someone gave him the kindness he deserved. One day, on his 8th birthday, he received something that would forever bore into his soul. That day, he was saved from the destructive clutches of suicide.

"Uh…what time is it?" a boy muttered as he lazily rose from bed. The boy Naruto scratched his spiky blond hair as sleep started to leave his system. His whisker birthmarks twitched somewhat as the boy muttered some incoherent words. Donned in grey pyjamas, the boy gets out of bed and walks towards his calendar, to look up the date.

October 10

The boy signed sadly as he felt his heart sank. It was the worst days of all days. It was his birthday. Normally, children at the youthful age of 8 would be excited, looking forward towards the day of presents, laughter, and the joy of hearing people say, happy birthday as they acknowledge the beginning of a new year of growing and learning for the birthday child. Such joys did not exist for him. There was nothing but pain. That was all he had, and all he ever will. A couple tears streamed down his cheek as he went about his daily morning rituals. He showered, brushed his teeth, and washed his face, the usual.

Everything felt empty as he walked into his kitchen, as he boiled some water. He was an orphan. Living on his own, on the top floor of his apartment building, Naruto had no one to take care of him. He had to fend for himself. No one ever really came by to see how he was doing, or to help him with anything. Sure Hokage-sama came in every so often and spent time with him. But ultimately due to his schedule, he never really could do anything long with the boy, or spend more than a few hours. Despite the fact he was trying, Naruto needed someone who could talk to him more.

Seeing that he had only about 15 minutes to get to school, he put away his dishes, dropped his towel, changed into a white t-shirt and shorts, put on a pair of sandals, and left the house. He left the door unlocked. Not that he cared. He had nothing of value. Plus he didn't have much for people to wreck anyways. After the first time had happened a few years back, he hadn't bothered to keep much, just enough to keep him going. Anything else would only hurt him if people destroyed such objects.

As he walked through the cold streets of his home village Konoha, people threw cold glares at him, muttering words such as, "Oh look, it's the demon brat," "It's the kyuubi no gaki," "Why the hell is that stupid thing even out here?" or "My word, when the fuck is he going to just get out of our lives?" He felt the venom behind his words. As he dragged his feet across the dirt roads that made up the various paths along the city, people continued to stare and ridicule him.

He felt like shit. He just wanted to shout out and cry, but it did nothing. It wasn't like someone was going to be there to be his saviour. Not even the great Hokage could save him. As he slowly approached the academy, he could already feel a sense of dread. It was bad enough that the adults had hated him, scorned him, and made him feel unwanted. And if the adult's attitude were any indication, the words he was about to receive from the students would only be worse.

For unlike the adults, they'd beat him. Often groups of kids would get together, and during breaks or lunches, they would find him, and openly beat him. Many would form circles around the boy as they watched him get beaten and humiliated. Many would laugh, point, and sneer at the poor boy as he went through hell. No one respected him, or at least had the decency to leave him alone. Had he had that, he would be more than grateful. At least then he would believe some acknowledge him as a person.

Naruto entered the school grounds as students started to notice his presence. Many immediately scattered as they saw him approaching. Many gave him looks of hate and disgust as they walked away from him, not even sparing him a second glance. Naruto felt his heart break. They must've known the significance of the way. They must've known that today was his birthday, and this was their present to him. Some present it was, making him feel even more ridiculed than ever. That's when he noticed it. People had openly stated their insults. Before people had whispered it, keeping it away from his ears, but today they openly attacked him. He felt so vulnerable, unable to defend himself.

He felt tears streaming down his eyes as he ran. Not looking where he was going, he ran wherever his feet took him. Not looking where he was going, he ended up colliding into a person, knocking both himself and the person onto their backs. Naruto didn't even bother to look at the person whom he had collided as he got up and continued running. He didn't care were he was going; he just wanted to get far away from the pain as he could.

Naruto soon found himself standing atop of the grand Hokage monument, on the top of Yondaime's head. He was unsure, but the lingering aura of the Fourth Hokage felt strangely familiar, yet foreign to him. He was unsure of it, not that he cared. Atop, he gazed upon the village that had had called home for 8 years. Some home it was. From his perch, it looked peaceful, serene, happy, even welcoming, when deep inside, all it really was, was a village full of hateful people that hated him for what he was. But what was he that made him so greatly hated by the village, that only Hokage respects him? He wanted to know why, and yet, he felt he shouldn't know why. He felt a powerful darkness behind the truth, and it scared him to no end.

He peered over the edge of the monument to see the flat ground below, where people stood to observe the faces. Naruto suddenly found it welcoming; to jump off the head, and end his life. The idea of ending his life seemed rather promising. No one cared for him, heck no one really knew him, except for the fact he was some sort of demon child, whatever that meant. He never bothered to find out, and to suddenly end this pain, it wouldn't really mattered if he never found out. At least people would stop staring at him, giving cold, hard looks, as they sneered and scorned him. He took one last look upon the evil city before him. It would most likely be the last thing he would see as he slowly approached the edge. He took a few breathes before he prepared to run the last bit.

"Ano … excuse me," a quiet voice called out. Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks. He tried to push on forward, yet something had stopped him. There was just something in that voice that held him. It felt warm, soothing somehow. He didn't understand. Everyone hated him. So how could such a voice sooth his soul.

"I just wanted to say sorry for what happened at school, and I also wanted to say, happy birthday, Naruto-kun." Naruto felt his heart stop at those words. Someone wished him a happy birthday. Someone had actually, sincerely wished him a happy birthday. He slowly turned around to see the person who had spoken to him. He came face to face, with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She short had royal blue hair, fringes across her brows, while her bangs lined the sides of her face. Her pale skin accented her hair, as it accented her seemingly alluring, yet warm, pupil-less lavender eyes. She wore a white kimono, but yet she looked heavenly in his eyes. In her hands, was a box, wrapped in gift-wrapping, tied up with blue, reflective string.

The girl slowly approached him, as she held out the box, muttering, "Happy birthday," again, with a slight blush on her face. Naruto slowly reached out and accepted the box. He could only stare at the box, teary eyed. He had never received a present in his life, and now suddenly, on his 8th birthday, someone gave him something. But a question entered his mind that he just had to ask.

"Why?" he weakly croaked, as the tears threatened to fall from his face.

"Y-you seemed lonely," she meekly replied, as she pressed her index fingers together. "I don't see why people hate you. You seem like a kind person to me." Those words hit Naruto like a tonne of bricks never would. He felt something he had never felt in his entire life. He felt happy. Someone acknowledged him as a person. Not as thing, as a monster, but as a real person.

"Thank you," he wailed as he dropped the box and hugged the girl. The girl was stunned. She only wanted to give him a present, and make him smile. She did not expect to make him cry. And yet, she felt his pain. Although she could never imagine the full extent, she felt it deep within her heart; he was in a lot of pain. With a sudden boost of courage, despite her reddened face, she hugged him back, as he cried. The two stayed like that for some time, as Naruto cried her heart out. Finally he had calmed down enough as he shyly broke away.

"Th-thank you, uh…"

"Hinata," she said, realising she had never introduced herself. "I am Hyuuga Hinata."

"Uzumaki Naruto," he weakly replied as they shook hands. Hinata giggled at his embarrassing introduction. She picked up the box, and held it out to Naruto again. He took it and looked at it for a moment, before he began to unwrap it. Despite the red nose, and tears that continued to stream down his face, she could see he was happy. She just couldn't see how people could hate such a kind gentle boy.

Naruto gasped at the contents of the box. It wasn't much, but it was still something. He lifted the object out and examined it closely. It was a pair of goggles. It truly wasn't much, but the fact that she even got him anything, he felt so happy. He never felt so happy in his life. He looked up at her, and smiled widely, in which she returned. He took out the headband that came with it and put it on his head before he put on the goggles. He looked at Hinata, as he waited for a comment.

"It…it looks good, Naruto-kun," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto croaked, "arigatou gozaimasu."

Hinata merely smiled back as she held out her hand, "Friends." Naruto smiled widely as he took it and shook it. Hinata did something today that she would later on be thanked for. In many years, she would learn that she had unwittingly saved his life. When the time came, she would learn that her act of kindness would be the first of many acts that would change him forever.

**So what do you think? Please give me your comments. I would greatly appreciate them, and also, please tell me if this should continue. Although this feels like a one-shot, I think that I could expand this into a story. If you desire my story to be as such, please say so in your reviews.**

**Well anyways, that's all from me**

**Cheers Ja ne**


	2. Mistakes to Success

**It Takes Just One**

**Chapter II Mistake to Success**

**Well you guys have asked for it. Due to the demands of the masses, and the fact I got 15+ reviews, I will be updating this regularly. I thank you for your support, and I shall be doing my best to make each chapter worth the read.**

"Today's the day, Hinata-chan," a boy mumbled as he walked.

"Hai, Naruto-kun," a girl replied.

The day was bright, the sun was shining, and all of Konoha was holding its breath as the eager parents of many academy students waited for the exams results. Many of the children were around the age of 12, and a good portion came from powerful bloodlines and clans, such as Hyuuga and Uchiha. Many of them were also looking forward to the exam, as it would prove that they had become of age, and were ready for the challenges that the world would bring.

Two particular students were Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata. Friends for four years, the two of them had been studying hard in preparations for the exam. Since that day, on Naruto's eighth birthday, both had grown up. Now standing 4'8" each, only difference being a couple points of a centimetre, Hinata being higher, both hadn't drastically changed facially, but their style of clothes had changed. No longer Naruto wore the t-shirt and shorts, but instead opted for an orange jacket with blue shoulders and white collar, and matching pants, rolled up halfway up his shin. Hinata wore the traditional Hyuuga training clothes, consisting of midnight blue short sleeved shirt with a v-neck with matching coloured pants, hemmed halfway down the thighs. In addition, she wore a beige jacket, with the Hyuuga symbol on the upper part of each sleeve.

Both were close friends, strengthened through many hardships. Initially they were in separable. No amount of words of insults could convince the young Hyuuga heiress to stay from the boy. They were often paired up, due to the fact no one wanted to be near the boy, and Hinata was often bent on being his partner. This continued for years, constantly growing stronger and stronger as more and more challenges stepped up to separate them. Each and every challenge was met, and the two of them overcame the obstacles and persevered, which later on earned the respect of their sensei, Umino Iruka.

The first test of the strength of their friendship came in the form of Hyuuga Hiashi, about three months after. When word of their friendship had reached the ears of the Hyuuga head, he had one day appeared at school, and witnessed the two of them hanging out. Needless to say he was far from please. He had openly walked up to Hinata, and told her not to spend time with the boy, while at the same time insulted him. Obviously, the words had not only enraged the boy, but also of his daughter.

Still children, neither understood the meaning behind the words of the adults. It remained a mystery of why the boy was the only one ridiculed while others were treated fine. To that extent, Hinata felt ashamed at her father. Although she had begun to shame her father and family name, the idea that her own father, openly degrading someone was shameful. She often heard from him that most people were beneath them, and were not worth their acknowledgement of any sort. To see him committing hypocrisy resulted in damaging his image before Hinata. The results were less than pleasant for the esteemed Hyuuga head.

After a usage of choice words against the young boy, Hiashi had attempted to drag his daughter away from the Naruto boy. However she resisted as she yelled for him to let go. That in itself was a surprise. But to openly defy her father for someone who was nobody was a new one. The open act of defiance had left Hiashi stunned momentarily. However he had managed to recover and had attempted to get her to move again, only to have her back away, as she started to openly insult her father.

That had somehow shattered her image. Many had known Hinata to be the quiet, shy, introvert, and often reclusive whenever she wasn't with Naruto. But somehow in her place at that moment was a completely new Hinata that shocked all including the brat Naruto. Hiashi could only stare in horror at her daughter as she protests and protects Naruto from her father's harsh words. People could only dumbly watch as she shoots down her father, embarrassing him before the future prospect Genins. Needless to say, he was far from happy and stormed off, while maintaining his composure. When Hinata had returned home that day, she had received one of the word punishments in her life, only matched by the Juin Jutsu. The result was that she was left with a scar on her back that ran from her left shoulder to her right waist.

Many had started to respect the girl after that day, and had at least been polite to Naruto, usually by keeping their mouths shut. However there were certain ninjas who would never give Naruto the time of day, and would constantly hairy him. However thanks to Hinata, he in the end paid no mind to them, and spent a lot of his time paying attention in class, or getting help. And now was the day that he would be tested on how well he had absorbed everything.

As everyone filed into the class, and waited for the esteemed examination, Naruto felt himself tensing up. Today he would be under the scrutiny of every instructor, and also his fellow classmates. Although he did not care for the comments or feelings of the student boy or staff, there were two people whose opinion did matter. First of all was his sensei, Iruka, who he often considered like his brother or father figure. If he were to fail this exam, he would be letting him down big time. Then there was Hinata, who he had grown up with for the last four years or so. And now with the exam, if he failed, he'd most likely be separated from her, and would more likely than not, spend less and less time with her, as she could be going on more missions, and most likely that she would eventually elevate to the point she could spend almost no time with him. If he had to anyone to prove his worth to, it was them. They were his precious people. He couldn't fail them.

"Alright, let's begin," a voice called down. Everyone looked down towards the entrance of the classroom as a man walk in. He had brown hair tied up at the back of his head, a horizontal scar across his nose, and brown eyes. His skin had a light tan, and he wore the standard ninja outfit worn by most Chuunin and Jounin, which consisted of a navy blue shirt, rolled up the forearm halfway, with matching pants, bounded by bandages around the ankle, and a flak jacket, with three pockets on each side.

"Rise, bow, sit down," a voice suddenly called out.

"Ohayo gozaimasu mina-san," the instructor called out.

"Ohayo Iruka-sensei," the majority of the class replied.

"Alright, then I'll explain what the exam entails," Iruka began. "We'll begin with a written portion of the exam. Following that, we will have you perform a certain jutsu. Does anyone have any questions?" Iruka waited a moment before he continued. "Then we will begin the test. Good luck." Iruka then proceeded and handed out papers to everyone as they began to write out the examination.

As soon as Naruto had received his paper, he quickly scribbled his name on, before he forgot to do such a thing. He had lost too many marks from other teachers because of this, and he wasn't going to foul up his chances of passing just because his forgot his name.

As the test progressed, Naruto came across questions that he found easy, such as what was the name of Sandaime Hokage, and more difficult questions, such as the year in which Konohagakure no Sato came to be. All in all, the exam proved to be somewhat easy for the boy, who was thankful that he had studied for the exam prior. The test went on for about an hour before time was up, and everyone had handed in their exams.

"Alright now that everyone has finished their exams, we will move on to the practical portion," Iruka declared as he picked up his clipboard. "Now, those who are called will go to the next classroom. The jutsu you are expected to perform, is the Bunshin no Jutsu"

'Kuso that's my worst jutsu!' Naruto yelled in his mind. Hinata looked back from her spot from the front corner seat, to see the sweat gleaming on Naruto's face. They had spent a good portion studying for the written exam. They had tried to enquire from previous graduates on what the practical exam entailed, but they had gotten a mix mash of various jutsus, indicating that the academy regularly altered its examination plan. That proved to be a problem in their plans, as Naruto still had chakra control problems, and they couldn't exactly turn to the Hyuuga family for help, due to previous incidences. They also couldn't turn to Iruka who always had his hands full, handling other classes.

They had studied most of the jutsus they had learned since they started studying, such as Kawarimi no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu, and a few others. They had tried to cover Bunshin no Jutsu, however that skill had proven to be extremely difficult for Naruto for some odd reason that they had only briefly touched the subject before they moved on. However how it came back to haunt them as they had to perform that particular jutsu, and Naruto never had any real success with the skill.

As people left the classroom one by one, Naruto began to panic. He knew that Hinata had no problem with the jutsu at all. Heck she could do it in her mind if she could. Then again being part of the Hyuuga clan, she had learned at a young age on chakra control. Being the second strongest child, next to one of her cousins, she had such a mastery over her chakra that she had apparently learned how to defend herself. How exactly the technique worked, Naruto had yet to witness.

"Uzumaki Naruto," a voice called out. Naruto's head shot up towards the door, to see a white haired man, standing at the doorway, looking around to see where he was. Naruto slowly got up and trudged towards the man, who gave him a smile and waited for him before they headed into the classroom. Naruto took his place at one end of the classroom. Across from him Iruka sat down along with the white haired sensei. Before them was a wooden table, with a few hitai-ate left over on Iruka's right.

Naruto took a few deep breathes before he brought his hands up into the ram seal. He took a few moments as he thought back to his chakra control and molding classes. He knew what composed the two, and prayed that he would be able to do it, considering his problems with the skill. Taking a few more breaths, he began to processing of molding his chakra as he prepared to cast the skill.

"BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he yelled as a bang followed by a puff of smoke occurred. As the smoke cleared, Naruto looked to his right as he felt his heart sink. On the ground laid his 'clone' sprawled on the floor, with the appearance that he had just, so to speak, gone through the ringer.

Iruka felt the corner of his lips, and his left eyebrow twitch as he yelled, "YOU FAILED!"

"Iruka-sensei," the other sensei called, drawing his attention. "He does have excellent athletic ability and stamina, plus he did technically pull off the jutsu. We could let him pass." Naruto's face lit up at the thought he might be allowed to pass.

"Mizuki-sensei," Iruka sighed, "everyone else divided into at least three. He only created one, and it's not even of any use. I can't let him pass." Naruto sighed sadly as he slowly walked out of the classroom, his spirits crashing down into a pile of debris. He had never felt this bad since his eighth birthday. At least he had Hinata to turn to lift his spirits. As he walked outside, as he was the last one to leave the classroom, he looked around for the familiar lavender eyes he had grown accustomed to. As he searched, he noticed he couldn't find her. Normally he could find her in a blink of an eye. But today, he found that he couldn't find her anywhere. He also noticed that no one from the Hyuuga family was waiting for her.

Sighing sadly, he slowly walked across the school yard as he sat himself down on the swing, and stared sadly at the congregation of graduates as they received looks of pride and joy from their parents. He idly wondered what it was like to have a family. To be able to feel the love that parents gave their children. He longed for the love one would get from a mother and father, but he knew that such love would never come to him. All he had in the world was a small handful of people who genuinely cared for him. He could easily count it on one hand. All he had were Hinata, Sandaime Hokage, Iruka, and Teuchi and Ayame of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. It was a sad and short list of friends indeed. No one else really paid attention to him, and those who did usually just laughed at his antics.

A noise suddenly draws his attention as he looks to his right to see Mizuki-sensei looking at him with a sincere smile on his face. He motioned for Naruto to follow him. They soon found themselves on a roof as they gazed at the late afternoon sun, as the warm gentle breeze flowed past them, flying freely as the birds themselves.

"You know that Iruka-sensei isn't picking on you, right?" Mizuki asked after a moment of silence.

"But then, why only with me! Why not a couple others?" he asked back.

"He probably wants you to become genuinely strong. But to do that, he has to be hard on you at times," he explained, in a sagely voice. "Also, you know that he was also orphaned."

"But…I really wanted to graduate," Naruto answered back. "I wanted to show Iruka what I have become."

"Well…there is a way you could possibly pass," Mizuki offered, grabbing Naruto's undivided attention. From the look of surprise on Naruto's face, Mizuki was sure that he would do what he needed to do to the letter.

Later that night Hinata decided to take a walk through a secluded forest in the village. She had heard that Naruto was heading towards that forest from Mizuki a while ago before some sort of commotion occurred at the Hokage's office. She had wanted to see Naruto after the exams, but her father had arrived almost immediately and had her return home. It had turned out that he had wished to perform an exam of his own; one that entailed testing out her abilities using the Byakugan, and her mastery of Jyuuken. Suffice it to say that she had for once impressed her father that he gave her the scrolls that contained the secrets to using the defence move she had tried to learn.

Continuing her travels through the woods, she suddenly heard some yelling, following a series of clucking. She instantly recognised the sound as kunai slamming into wooden planks. Activating her bloodline limit, she noticed not far ahead, three people were present. Quickly rerouting some chakra into her legs, she dashed forward. From what she could tell, one of them was injured, the other one probably unable to defend. The third person, who was perched on a tree branch, was the enemy, considering the person had two massive shurikens mounted on the back. As she neared she could hear their voices.

"Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it!" the first voice she immediately recognised as Naruto.

"Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you having that," the second voice, registering as Mizuki, another sensei from the academy.

"What are you talking about Mizuki? Don't be fooled by him Naruto!"

Mizuki laughed wickedly as he said, "I'll tell you the truth." Hinata could see that Naruto was in no position to fight a chuunin, and that Iruka could be unable to fight considering his injuries.

"No don't!" Iruka pleaded. Whatever it was, it was serious. Hinata pushed it as she ran faster. She had few people she truly cared about, and Iruka and Naruto were one of those few. She prayed she'd be able to get there fast enough.

"Twelve years ago, a rule was created in this village."

"A rule?" Naruto and Hinata asked.

"This is a rule nobody was allowed to tell you about," Mizuki continued.

"Not tell me?" Naruto cried in shock. "What kind of rule is it?"

"Stop this Mizuki!" Iruka begged.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the Demon Fox." Hinata instantly grinded to a halt at his words completely shocked about the information she had just heard. If what he said was true, it would change the way she looked at him. She could see the look of horror and confusion in his eyes. She could see that he was scared. Anyone would be in that situation. All his life, he had grown up hated, teased, beaten, received hateful glares and such. And in an instant, slapped upon his face, he learns that the truth of the matter was that he was hated because of what he was.

"It means that you are the Nine Tails Fox Demon that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village!" Mizuki roared.

"STOP IT!" Iruka cried out desperately.

"You have been lied to by everyone," Mizuki continued, venom thick in his voice. "Didn't you find it odd that everyone hated you?" Naruto began to curse aloud as chakra began to violently flood out from him. "Nobody will ever acknowledge you! Even Iruka hates you!"

'No…it can't be…Naruto-kun…' Hinata said in her mind. It just didn't make sense to her. In the four years she had spent with the boy, not once did she ever sense killer intent. Not once had she ever see him commit some sort of act that would be fitting for a demon. Not once in her life had she ever heard of Naruto doing anything that would ever threaten the village. Naruto was only the village prankster. The most harm he ever did was wound a person's pride. Not once had he every done anything wrongful that would warrant such hate. Heck although the village hated him, she didn't hate him. She cared for him. She was her best friend. That's when it hit her.

In a powerful epiphany, she realised something. The village were fools. They were complete and utter fools. Sure, they say that Naruto is the demon fox. But not once had ever exhibited the traits that were native to such a monster. All they saw was the demon. Not once did the village take the time to see past the demon inside him, to see the young defenceless boy that needed help. No one had really ever considered approaching him and saying hi. All they did was ridicule him for something he couldn't help being. It was not his choice to be the reincarnation of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. She knew then that he wasn't the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was Uzumaki Naruto, the loudest boy and more annoying boy in the village, and future Hokage.

No sooner did that epiphany hit her that she heard Mizuki yelled out, "DIE NARUTO!" She looked at him to see that he was spinning on of his shurikens as he prepared to throw. Acting on instinct she immediately dashed forward as fast she could to get in front of Naruto. As she neared, Mizuki threw the weapon, with all intents of killing the boy. He stumbled back and started to crawl away as fast as he could as the lethal blade neared.

"NARUTO, GET DOWN!" Hinata and Iruka yelled out. Naruto stopped and covered his head as he prayed for the best.

In that instant, Hinata stopped in front of Naruto, and yelled out, "KAITEN!" and began spinning as chakra flowed from her boy. The shuriken impacted wall of chakra. Iruka could only watch in horror as the weapon started to slip through. However before even a quarter of the weapon entered, it was thrown clear from any of them as it spun off into the forest, slashing branches off in its path.

Naruto looked back to see Hinata standing there, facing Mizuki. To say he was shocked would be putting it mildly. Someone had just willing stepped into the line of danger, and took a blow that could've seriously hurt her, or worse killed him. Hinata panted as she tried to maintain her stance, with her left up in front of her, with her hand near her right hip, both palms facing towards Mizuki's direction.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata breathed out as she tried to catch her breath. "I-I don't know about Iruka-sensei, but I don't care about it. In fact…I can't help but admire you're strength; all that hate and you still smile. I don't know if I could ever do that." She caught her breath and looked back and smiled a genuine smile. "You're still my best friend, Uzumaki Naruto."

Mizuki chuckled momentarily before he yelled, "Don't make me laugh!" He suddenly jumped down and delivered a roundhouse kick to Hinata's head before she could react, sending her flying across the clearing.

"HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto called out.

"You should be worried about me," Mizuki growled as he ran up towards Naruto and kicked him. However before he foot connected, a kunai flew in between them, forcing Mizuki to jump back away. They looked towards the direction the kunai came from to see that Hinata had thrown it. Mizuki however smirked.

"I was going to kill you later however," he quickly undid the strap of his shuriken, "I'LL KILL YOU NOW!" He dashed towards the Hyuuga heiress as the shuriken spun in his hand. Time began to slow down for the poor girl as she watched her impending doom approached. Fear gripped her denying her any means of escape. Mizuki inched forward, step after step, bringing her death. She had longed for many things in this world. She longed to be recognised by her father, to be able to please her father, to end the feud in her family, and possibly the heart of Naruto. But all that seemed so out of reach as Mizuki prepared to strike. Hinata closed her eyes as she waited for the painful death she was about to receive. However that death never came.

She opened her eyes to see that Naruto had intercepted the strike, and had rammed Mizuki into a tree, forcing him to send his last weapon in a random direction. Mizuki laid on the ground dazed for a moment as he tried to figure out what had happened to him. In that time Naruto had already stood back up, a massive scroll on the ground, supported by his right hand. The looked on his face surprised the girl. On his face was the look of anger. The kind of anger reserved only to those who had seen someone hurt a friend or someone close.

"You shouldn't have done that…" Mizuki groaned as he got back up onto his feet.

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei or Hinata-chan," Naruto growled. "I'll kill you."

"Shut up! I'll kill a punk like you in one shot!" Mizuki retorted. Naruto grabbed the scroll and tossed it towards Hinata who caught it, as he brought up his hands, to form the ram seal, but instead form a cross.

"Just try it trash," Naruto challenged. "I'll return the pain a thousand times over."

"Then do it, Demon Fox!" Mizuki rebutted, in an attempt to anger Naruto.

Naruto however smirked as he yelled out, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" In an explosion, the clearing suddenly flooded with Naruto clones. Everyone looked around in awe at the massive number of clones Naruto had produced. So many that many had taken up to reside in the trees, as they prepared to strike.

"Sensei…" Hinata gasped, "What is this?"

"This is Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Iruka quietly replied as the shock slowly warded off before he broke out into a smile.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" Hinata repeated.

"Hai," he replied back in a teacher-like fashion. "It's a high-level Ninjutsu that creates not illusions, but solid bodies."

"Wh…what's going on?" Mizuki breathed out, fear setting in. As he looked about, he found that he had no where to go. There were too many around him to really give him a point to escape.

"What's wrong? Come to me!" the clones challenged as the witless chuunin fell upon his rear. "Well then…I'll start things off" Instantly hundreds of clones leapt forward as they dished a beating, worthy of being recreated in an anime. As the dust settled, all that was left was one Naruto, sheepishly laughing as he scratched the back of his head, and the beaten body of Mizuki, bloodied, bruised, and broken toothed.

"I went a little too far…" he muttered in the same sheepish tone. "Iruka-sensei, Hinata-chan, you guys all right?"

"Yeah," they replied.

"Naruto, come over here," said Iruka, as he finally slid down against the shack walls and sat down on the grass. "There's something I want to give you." Naruto nodded in compliance as he walked forward, stopping about a metre away from him. Iruka told him to close his eyes, which he did so.

Following such he feels something funny happen on his head as he hears Hinata gasps as she whispers, "Naruto-kun."

"Sensei, now?" Naruto asked as he waited impatiently.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now," he soon replied after a few moments of silence. As Naruto opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of Iruka and Hinata, both giving him warm smiles as the sun rises.

"Congratulations of passing," said Iruka, smiling proudly at the graduate before him.

"Naruto-kun, congratulations," Hinata whispered as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto was in shock. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it. Just this afternoon he had failed the exam and now, almost three quarters of a day later, he was told that he had passed and had graduated from the academy. He felt numb. He passed, he had finally passed. He felt something he hadn't felt since his 8th birthday. He smiled brightly as tears formed in his eyes. Hinata gently squeezed his shoulders when she noticed his tears. He looked at her as she gave him a smile.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto burst out as he hugged the man.

"Ow that hurts!" Iruka exclaimed as he felt his back slam into the shack wall again. Naruto burst into a fit of laughter as he let got and started to jump around, cheering, happy that he had passed. He turned his attention towards his best friend.

"We did it Hinata-chan," he exclaimed with a wide smile. "We both passed."

"Hai, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied, feeling a minor blush forming on her face.

"Alright then," Iruka exclaimed, "to celebrate, how about we celebrate over a bowl of ramen for breakfast!" Both graduates nodded as the sunlight gleamed upon the clearing, its light reflecting off the metal plates upon Naruto's forehead and Hinata's neck. The day marked something important to them. That day, they had finally stepped out of the classroom, and took their first steps into the shinobi world. From hereon in, they were no longer students or children. They were ninjas.

**Translations:**

**Ohayo (gozaimasu) – Good morning (Adding gozaimasu is formal version)**

**Konohagakure no Sato – Village Hidden Among Tree Leaves (Literal Translation)**

**Bunshin no Jutsu – Cloning Technique**

**Kuso – Feces (Literal translations, but can be inferred for other words relating)**

**Kawarimi no Jutsu – Replacement Technique**

**Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique**

**Sandaime Hokage – Third Generation (Literal meaning) Fire Shadow**

**(Hakkeshou) Kaiten – Eight Divination Palms of the Hand, Heavenly Spin (Hyuuga clan members just yell out Kaiten)**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

**So what are your thoughts? Was it anything you expected it to be? Please give me your comments, as it will be the basis of whether or not I will make this a full time story, or it will be something I do in my spare time.**


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